A Simple Country Mouse

You remember the old children's books we used to get read each night before bed? Ones like Good Night Moon, My Fuzzy Blanket, The Little Prince and Tell Me Cat? The old Dr. Seuss books like Oh The Places You Will Go, Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, and of course, the most famous, Cat in the Hat? As I am an avid reader and love books of all kinds, I will always love a good book. But, I have to say children's books have always been, and always will be, a favorite of mine. Good Night Moon was my favorite book when I was little. My Papi would read it to me just before bed for many years. When I began to read myself, it was one I would go back and read ever so often just because it's so sweet. As i got older and my little brother was born, I read it a few times to him before bed. My Mum and I began reading the Chronicles of Narnia when I was about 7 or 8. I think I was a bit young at that age, though I quickly climbed to things like Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys. After...

I know, I know, I know. I haven't written for a while. That my dear friends is because I've been driving along the coast, and then blasting back to work. I was headed to a really great conference on the beach with Author, and it was a kick in the pants. Let me tell you, it was hilarious, and sad, and emotionally draining like nobody's business. We met up with one of the mamas and spent the weekend in this adorable little town on the beach. It has this little Christmas shop that we hit, and found Christmas presents for some of the family. Author got all of her Christmas shopping done, well, almost. I, on the other hand, only got two of my presents done. The conference itself was about rest, of all things. Me? Rest? Remind me of the definition of rest, because last time I checked it was something like, "run around like a chicken with your head cut off until you drop down dead." No? Oh, bummer. Well, I tried. Anyways, we had a blast, and then headed to mama and papa...

Yup, I'm headed to the beach once again, only this time, it's a different beach. This is another quaint town but a little larger than the last one. Actually, I've been there once before and look forward to going back. With it's soft beaches, and tides to play in, I look forward to a girl's weekend away. While I will try to post I cannot promise I will be able to. Depending on where we are I may or may not have cell reception. In which case I will do my best to find a coffee shop with internet access. On the way down tomorrow, I can't wait to see all the sites I haven't seen since I was a freshman in high school. That was the last time I was down in this region. So, we shall see. Onto other news (as the casters always say), with fall chilling the air, and summer definitely over, we are all starting fires, and pulling out those warm winter coats. I love to settle in in the morning with a cup of coffee or tea, and watch the fire one of the boys built roar to l...

Do you ever get those days where all you can think is "Dear Heaven, why me?" I've seemed to have had a string of those the past few days. I know this is typically a whimsical little blog, but today I just need to rant. So forgive me as I go off for a moment. Saturday was a pleasant enough day, until my roommate and I decided to try a new church which had an evening service. Author laughed her way through the service, as I tried to curl up in the smallest ball possible. No, she wasn't laughing at the service itself, but at the effect it had on me. Let's just say I don't do so well in large crowds of jumping beans and loud shouts that seem to have no rhyme or reason. I twitched and shuddered my way through it until I discovered that if I simply went into my own little world I would be just fine. She intends on laughing for the next 15 years of my life. I intend on never going back, and she owes me one. I plan on using it when she will feel my uncomfyness. (Yes,...

We made it to 500 page views bloggers!!!! That's so amazing! With over 30 page views each time I post we are growing bigger and bigger every day. When I started this blog, I was just putting my crazy thoughts down for fun, never realizing, or even imagining people might actually enjoy reading about this odd little place we all the Sound Castle. It will never cease to surprise me that all you out there really want to read this. I am humbled and awed. My crazy thoughts of my crazy house in my crazy little world. I'm sure many of you can relate to living a crazy life, but I wouldn't trade it, or this for the world. Seriously, 500 page views...wow. Thank you. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you all read this. So, on that note, here's my crazy thoughts for the day. I spent the day sketching an odd little piece that looks a little like the Sound Castle, but has some interesting little bits in it. Like my personality, things aren't always as they appear....

I do so love a good book, but with every to good to be true thing there is likely a downside. For me, books, and Pier 1 are my kryptonite (stupid spell check won't work). Books in particular are my favorite. So, since yesterday was an unexpectedly long one, I decided to not crawl out from beneath my cozy warm covers until roughly 1:00 this afternoon. Let me tell you, it was a pleasure. I don't remember the last time I stayed in bed so long. Well beyond when I sicker than a dog. With my nose stuck in a delightful fairytale about Captain Hook finding love, I lazed the time away and was completely content. Only the smell of fresh brewed coffee coaxed me out. That and I had to use the bathroom. And my tummy was yelling at me to feed it. My hubby bought me a kindle a few years back for Christmas, and it's one of the gifts I hold most precious. Because I love books so much, the fact that I can carry 1000 books or more in my back pocket is pretty awesome. It's great for long ...

This morning was all bright and sunny until....oh that's right, I had to wake up. Bummer. Rousing out of bed at an ungodly hour of the morning after last night, and still being sick, I dragged myself up to go make coffee for work. Ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off because my dishwasher didn't actually do his job...again. So help me heaven, I seriously want to teach him like you would a dog. Stick his nose in the gross stuff. That ought to hopefully teach him gross stuff in the sink and on the floor is bad. I have a pet peeve about sticky stuff being left on the floor, and leftover wet food left in the bottom of the sink. EEEEEWWWWW!!!!!!! At least he wasn't there today so I didn't have to deal with him. When I got home, Gamer was off at a meeting, and then headed to a friend's to watch a football game. American football that is. My personal theory is that it's a bunch of guys running back and forth in spandex on a field kicking an odd shaped ...

You know those days when you wake up in the morning and you just feel sick? Your tummy tosses and turns. You want to sleep all day, and you are hungry but the thought of food makes your stomach want to revolt. Yup, that's how I spent my very busy day. Woke up at 6:00 this morning and started my day with my tummy deciding to play chase with itself. It was going round and round until I thought I might lose it, and then next thing you know, it just stops. Then, to make things even better, it's starts playing in the playground of my insides with my other organs, popping in and out of the dome climbing gym, swinging up and down on the swings, and going on the merry go round so many times my head began to spin. To make things even more entertaining, it began to do flips on the monkey bars, and promptly fell off. And that's when I decided it was time to go home before my tummy decided to pay me a visit outside of my body. Having lunch a second time didn't sound appetizing for ...

I love a good curry, but curling up with a ball of fur in your lap with a bowl of curry is even better. Liddy was meowing around the house while Scientist was making curry last night. It reminded me of how much I enjoy being home with the smell of food cooking, and the sound of a cat purring. Some days I forget about the little things we should all enjoy. And then something happens to remind me of how important they are. It's so often the little things we take for granted, and yet they are also so often the ones we appreciate the most. To come home this evening to hamburgers cooking on the stove, was a pleasant surprise. Author decided to make dinner for all of us, and then headed to bed as she has to be up early tomorrow morning. I have to hit the hay here soon myself as I'm going to be hopping up around the same time. Tomorrow is a day full of cooking, and a baby shower. We are serving breakfast at 8:00 am. Then a lunch at 12:00, and a baby shower for a friend at 3:00. Like...

You've probably never heard of freezing sunshine. Let's see if I can explain. On those days you wake up, the sun is shining, and you go to roll out of bed with a big stretch and a nice yawn, but get stopped short because the moment you crawl out from under the covers you freeze. Yup, freezing sunshine. It looks like it should be a pleasant day, slightly warm without being overly hot, and next thing you know, you are trying to crawl back under the covers until someone turns up the heat, or starts a fire for you to curl up next to wrapped in your cozy blankets, and coffee in your hand. That's what I woke up to this morning, only without the luxury of being able to curl up next to the fire, or the cup of coffee in hand. It was up and at 'em this morning. The one redeeming fact of the morning was I got to spend it with Gamer. We had an appointment this morning, so we met there and then hung out for a few moments after the appointment. Then I headed home to a fire and breakf...

As the rain and storms start to roll through, I begin to think on other things. I begin thinking about life, and the deeper meaning of it. The hope, and the sorrow. The rain beats down, and the fire crackles next to me. The purr of the cat, and the laughter of the boys fill the air with contentedness, but I ponder the times that things weren't always to peaceful. As we just had a power outage a day or so ago, I have had time to wonder about all of these things. So here's what I've been pondering. When you go through those storms of life, whether they be a simple rain storm or a full blown hurricane, what do you do? How do you deal with those things? How do you deal with the grief, pain, loss, sorrow, anger, and rage? I know there is no cure all but there are things to help cope. For starters, prayer is the first thing on the list. There is always a Friend who is there to love on you, and all you have to do is ask. Simple as that. Just ask. Now I am not just saying this to ...